Slash's Snakepit

Following the two and a half year world tour in support of the albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II,[1][2] Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash returned to Los Angeles.[2] He soon sold his home, the Walnut House, and moved to Mulholland Drive.[3] He built a small home studio, nicknamed The Snakepit,[4] over his garage and began working on demos for songs he had written during the tour.[3][5] Slash worked on the demos with Guns N' Roses bandmate and drummer Matt Sorum. They were later joined by guitarist Gilby Clarke and Alice in Chains bassist Mike Inez, jamming and recording most nights.[3][5] Slash played the demos for Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose who rejected the material,[3][4][5] though he would later want to use them for the next Guns N' Roses album.[5] They had recorded twelve songs by 1994,[6] the same year that Guns N' Roses went on hiatus.[4]

Slash decided to record the Snakepit demos with Sorum, Clarke and Inez,[7] later adding former Jellyfish live guitarist Eric Dover as lead vocalist.[5][7][8] The decision to record with Dover led to a disagreement between Slash and Sorum, due to Slash not seeking Sorum's approval before hiring Dover.[8]

Slash and Dover wrote the lyrics to all twelve songs with Slash using the songwriting to vent his frustrations at Guns N' Roses singer Rose.[8] Clarke contributed the song "Monkey Chow" to the album[9] while "Jizz da Pit" is an instrumental by Slash and Inez.[9] They recorded the album at Conway Recording Studios and The Record Plant[9] with Mike Clink[8] and Slash co-producing[9] and Steven Thompson and Michael Barbiero mixing,[9] all of whom had worked with Guns N' Roses on their debut album Appetite for Destruction.[10][11] The album featured contributions by Duff McKagan (who co-wrote "Beggars & Hangers-On"),[4][12] Dizzy Reed on keyboards,[12] Teddy Andreadis on harmonica, and Paulinho da Costa on percussion.[9] Slash's brother, Ash Hudson, designed the album's cover.[4]

The resulting album, titled It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, was released in February 1995 through Geffen Records.[13] The album's title was taken from a phrase Slash overheard at an airport.[4] At the insistence of the record label, the album was released under the name Slash's Snakepit, instead of The Snakepit, despite Slash not wanting his name used.[4] Upon release, the album charted at number 70 on the Billboard 200[14] and number 15 on the UK Albums Chart.[4] "Beggars & Hangers-On" was released as the first, and only, single from the album;[15] while a music video was also shot for "Good to Be Alive", directed by August Jakobsson.[8][16]

Critically, the album received mainly positive reviews. Metal Hammer stated that "the sleazy, downtrodden blues hard rock [...] breaks new ground."[4] AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine called Slash's contributions "quite amazing", though criticized the song-writing, stating "it's too bad that nobody in the band bothered to write any songs."[13] Devon Jackson of Entertainment Weekly described the album as "relaxed headbanging and Southern-tinged blues-rock"[18] while Classic Rock reviewer Malcolm Dome stated "musically, it's a loose-limbed record that has a lot of heavy guitar-led punk-style pop-rock."[4] Slash's Snakepit toured in support of the album, with bassist James LoMenzo and drummer Brian Tichy, of Pride & Glory, replacing Inez and Sorum,[4][7][15] who had opted out of touring, with Sorum returning to Guns N' Roses.[4] They toured the US, Europe, Japan and Australia[15] with Slash stating that "for the first time in years, touring was easy, [his] band mates were loads of fun and low on drama, and every gig was about playing rock and roll."[17] While booking another leg of the tour, Slash was informed by Geffen that Rose was ready to begin work on the new Guns N' Roses album and that he was to return to Los Angeles.[17] Geffen pulled financial support for the band's tour with Slash's Snakepit disbanding soon after.[17]

Slash departed Guns N' Roses in 1996,[7][19] due to musical differences between himself and singer Axl Rose.[7][20] Following his departure, Slash toured Japan for two weeks with Chic,[21] and worked on the soundtrack to the film Curdled.[22] He later began touring in a blues cover band that eventually became Slash's Blues Ball.[5][7][23] Aside from Slash, the band consisted of Teddy Andreadis, guitarist Bobby Schneck, bassist Johnny Griparic, saxophonist Dave McClarem and drummer Alvino Bennett.[7][23] The band toured on and off until 1998,[7] which included a headline slot at a jazz festival in Budapest.[23] They covered various artists and bands such as B.B. King, Steppenwolf, Otis Redding, as well as Guns N' Roses and early Slash's Snakepit material.[7][23]

Following a tour in 1997,[24] Slash approached Griparic about forming a new lineup of Slash's Snakepit[23] They began looking for a singer,[24] receiving over 300 audition tapes[23] from mostly unknown singers.[24] Jon Stevens of Noiseworks, who had been recording with Slash, was seen as a potential singer in early 1998.[25] However, he returned to Australia to continue his solo career.[25] They eventually chose Rod Jackson (earlier of Virginia based band Ragdoll) after Griparic played a tape of him for Slash.[26] Completing the lineup were guitarist Ryan Roxie, formerly of Alice Cooper, and drummer Matt Laug, also from Alice Cooper and the band Venice.[4][5][7][27] They began rehearsing at Mates Studio before rehearsing and recording in Slash's new home studio in Beverly Hills.[25][27]

The band began recording material with producer Jack Douglas[4][29] at Slash's home studio as well as Ocean Way Recording.[30] The recording featured contributions by Teddy Andreadis, Jimmy Zavala and Lee Thornburg, amongst others.[30][31] Initially, the label was positive about the album,[32] setting a release date for February 22, 2000.[33] However, when Slash was informed by Geffen, who had folded into Interscope Records, that the album was not the type of music the label produced, he bought the album back[32] and signed a deal with Koch Records.[34] Following the completion of the album, Roxie departed the band[4] with former Big Bang Babies, Warrant and Ratt guitarist Keri Kelli joining in his place.[5][7]

Ain't Life Grand was released on October 20, 2000[4][35] through Koch[34][35] with "Mean Bone" released as the first single.[36] The album did not sell as well as its predecessor,[4] and critical reception to it was mixed. Entertainment Weekly reviewer Tony Scherman stated that "Slash's playing is as flashily incendiary as ever, but the songs and arrangements recycle hard-rock cliches worthier of Ratt than of a bona fide guitar god".[37] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone noted that "great guitarists need great bands, and the Snakepit dudes are barely functional backup peons".[38] Steve Huey of Allmusic noted that "the new Snakepit does kick up a lot of noise as the album rushes by, and the strong chemistry between the members is immediately obvious". However, he stated that songwriting was the main problem, and that "it never rises above the level of solid, and too many tracks are by-the-numbers hard rock at best (and pedestrian at worst)".[28] The band were dropped by Koch two months following the album's release.[39]

Prior to the album's release, Slash's Snakepit supported AC/DC on their Stiff Upper Lip tour from August to September,[34][35] followed by their own headlining tour of theaters.[39] They played only the first two shows on the winter leg of AC/DC's tour.[36] After falling ill and checking into a hospital in Pittsburgh,[40][41] Slash was ordered by his doctor to stay at home to recuperate, reportedly from pneumonia.[36] Due to this, Slash's Snakepit pulled out of supporting AC/DC in early 2001.[36] Slash later revealed in his self-titled biography that he had actually suffered cardiac myopathy caused by years of alcohol and drug abuse, with his heart swelling to the point of rupture.[40] After being fitted with a defibrillator and undergoing physical therapy, Slash returned to the group to continue touring.[40][41] They later rescheduled their US tour, performing shows from June 16 – July 18,[41][42][43] co-headlining three shows with Billy Idol.[41][44][40] Following the tour, Slash hid in the tour bus, waiting for the rest of the band to go home. He then announced the disbanding of Slash’s Snakepit in an announcement made in early 2002. He cited, in particular, Jackson’s poor work ethic and unreliability. [45][46]

Following the breakup of Slash's Snakepit, Slash announced he was to begin working on a solo album.[46] Instead he later worked with The Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman and an unnamed bassist on a new project.[47] Together with his former Guns N' Roses bandmates Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum, they formed The Project, that eventually became the hard rock supergroup Velvet Revolver following the addition of former Wasted Youth guitarist Dave Kushner, and then-former Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland.[48] They released their debut album Contraband, in 2004,[48] followed by Libertad in 2007,[48] before they parted ways with Weiland and went on hiatus in 2008.[49] With Velvet Revolver on hiatus, Slash began work on his debut solo album.[50] Slash was released on March 31, 2010, and featured a number of guests such as Andrew Stockdale of Wolfmother, M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold, Kid Rock, Ozzy Osbourne, Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge, and Fergie.[51] His band for the tour in support of the album consisted of Kennedy, bassist Todd Kerns, and drummer Brent Fitz. It also included guitarist Bobby Schneck, formerly of Slash's Blues Ball.[52]